Monday, September 17, 2007

Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU): Citigroup also positive on BIDU

- Citigroup is also out positive on Baidu.com (NASDAQ:BIDU) this morning saying that according to o the latest survey report on China's Search engine market, published by China IntelliConsulting Corporation (CIC) today, the China search market continues to concentrate with Baidu and Google accounting for 92.4% of total primary users, or 88.7% of total daily users in any given day.

Baidu maintains lead as Google gains at the expense of Yahoo and Sogou.

Perhaps the most important point: Baidu beats Google among high-end users - Baidu continues to excel in the high-end user market, encroaching on Google's traditional core users. Baidu's high-end share rose from 51.5% to 53.4% over the six-month period while Google's share slipped from 41.9% to 39.6%.

Reiterates Top Pick & US$250 PT; Strides at Google not coming from Baidu - This latest survey result from CIC confirms Citi's earlier published views that Google's recent share gains are coming at the expense of smaller players, and that Baidu has maintained its leading position - in fact, it is still growing its overall market share. Firm believes 3Q07 results will be strong, providing a further catalyst for the shares.

Notablecalls: Please scroll down for more colour on BIDU. Must say I'm surprised by the lack of upside in BIDU stock in the pre market. Buying oppy, from my perch.

BIDU price is running ahead of its fundamental as competition is not over with GOOG continues improving and Alibaba makes its inroad into small/medium business sector that is core of BIDU revenue. 80% of BIDU traffic volume comes from MP3 links -most are piracy. Eventually BIDU can no longer sustain its triple digits growth, right now analysts are way too optimistic.